Field of Glory: Kingdoms – Ultimate Guide to Religion

Religion Guide

The religion screen contains details about your own faction and other important information, as:

This screen shows who leads the Christian and Muslim factions (in this case the Papal States and the Seljuqs). Hovering a mouse over the five Holy Cities will tell you who owns them. You can see the most pious nations with this being made up of the top 7 Christian and top 2 Muslim factions. There is currently a Crusade aimed at pagan Livonia but no Jihad.

Religious Groups

Religions are divided into a number of major categories:

• Religions of the Book (RoTB) includes Christianity, Islam and Judaism (so excludes any pagan faction).
• Christianity is divided between Catholic and Orthodox (and each of these can produce heresies).
• Islam is divided between Shia and Sunni factions (and again their respective heresies).

Population Affiliation

Each population unit has a religious affiliation. Over time this can change either to your national faith or into a heresy (or even adopt the religion of a powerful neighbour).

Every nation has a defined state religion. This cannot change in the course of the game.

Piety Points

These are produced by each region according to the number of religious buildings present. You can see both current and stored production on the region and provincial tabs as:

In this case the Swedish region of Ostergotland produces 376 piety points per turn and has accumulated 27,599. The accumulated value is important for calculating how educated a region is.

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The effect in a given region depends on how many piety points are produced per population point. These can come from buildings, national traits or clergy in the piety task.

Piety production is divided by population to give a scale for the region. For this calculation fractions are always rounded up the nearest integer.

In effect, that means a given clergy point, with no relevant buildings, will keep a total of six population points in the average category.

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If a clerical population is not from your national faith (they may have become a heretic or be in a region you have conquered) they will produce less piety till they convert again.

In this case the Swedish region of Ostergotland produces 376 piety points per turn and has accumulated 27,599. The accumulated value is important for calculating how educated a region is. In effect, that means a given clergy point, with no relevant buildings, will keep a total of six population points in the average category.

If the cleric is from a different Christian or Muslim faction to your ruler they will produce at 50% productivity. In other cases, (such as Pagans, heretics or Muslim clerics in a Christian realm) they will have no productivity.

In addition, any buildings that produce piety for a specific faith will do so at 50% if the region is owned by a different faith.

Given the game situation this can be a significant issue if regions swap hands between Islamic and Christian factions but also affects the value of buildings created by the various pagan factions.

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Conversion

You can convert population to your national faith. The benefit is a much-reduced unrest value in the region. Once per turn a single population (that can be converted) is picked at random and a conversion check is made. Not every population gets a conversion roll, only one per turn per region.

A base chance is 3% divided by the conversion resistance of the population (varies between 2 and 10). This can be modified as:

• If the region is producing piety this gives a bonus of 1% for every 20 points.
• A governor gives a +10% (relative) bonus per Piety statistic he has
• Ruler piety will affect the conversion chances at a global level.
• Large population gives a penalty, Every 10 population removes 1%. Of the conversion chance and each Heretic population counts as four population points in this calculation.

The chance of converting a population point can be found at:

This region has both pagan and heretic populations mainly due to the very low piety production (not helped by those pagans and heretics).

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Sometimes conversion can happen due to the dominant religion in adjacent regions. This conversion ‘at a distance’, might occur if the differential in Piety is high between the two. This will create tensions between the two countries. Pagans will never do this distant conversion, only ‘Religions of the Book’.

Heretics and Pagans can also be forcefully converted by strength of arms. Each army in a region has a 1% chance to convert such population per 100 combat power. If conversion is rolled, there is a 35% chance that the population dies instead. If led by a general, a bonus of 10% per Piety point of the general is applied to the calculated strength.

In a region with serious problems of either other religious groups or pagans you may need to send in a large army and accept the population losses.

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Heresies

Religions of the Book (RotB) can suffer from heresies. Heretics will be from the same major religion group as the owning nation (so a Muslim nation will not spawn Christian heretics). Heresies emerge over two main stages.

In the early stages this can happen with no particular effect as population units convert to a heresy. This happens more frequently in regions with a high revolt risk, some heretics already (so the problem can escalate), if owning nation has bad relations with Papacy (for a Christian realm) or with a low Piety production relative to their population.

The average piety production increases, or reduces, the chance a given population will convert to a heresy. The scale is used as:

Some other important variables include:

• If Revolt Risk is > 0: +.25%
• If the relationship with the Papacy is ‘despise’ or worse (i.e. -35 or worse). This applies to Christian factions only
• If a heretic is already present: +.25%

Thus as population expands you will need to invest more in piety production to avoid heretics. In addition, it is possible for a region that was average will drop due to external circumstances. In other words, while a score of ‘4’ is often adequate you might find it no longer protects you if revolts spread or your population grows. Note also that heretic population are less loyal, so simply by existing they may create a revolt risk where none was present earlier.

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There is a tooltip in the Region Panel showing the Heretic generation chance and providing details on the Piety point generation per population. The religion label will be coloured orange if the risk of heresy is high (over 0.5%).

Each non-heretic clergy population creates an addition roll to convert heretics in the region.

If a Clergy Population becomes a heretic then the owning nation, if Christian, will lose three relationship points with Papacy. In addition, such clergy do not produce piety themselves. If a Noble Population becomes heretic, the owning nation will lose 3 National Authority.

At some stage the heresy will be sufficiently embedded to create a local revolt and spawn a full-blown heresy. At this stage, they basically function as rebels, but with the additional problem that they can now convert other adjacent populations, thus further lowering loyalty and encouraging full scale heresy across a wider region.

Christian Nations will also lose 3 relationships toward Papacy for each new region revolting in Heresy.

Religious Superiority

Authority Gain

The top ten (either Muslim or Christian) factions in terms of per turn piety production will gain a per turn authority bonus. The current eligible nations can be found on the religion tab. Such factions will gain up to +1 authority per turn if they have less than 75. Above that the bonus will steadily diminish but will never be less than 0.1.

So Sweden is one of the factions that gain from Religious Superiority and their underlying authority is high enough to reduce the benefit to 0.9 per turn.

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Relations with the Pope

Any Christian nation in the top 10 will also gain the title ‘Daughter of the Church’. If their current relation to the Pope is under 75 then this will improve by +1 per turn.

The Pope gains +0.1 Authority per turn (until they reach 75) for every Christian faction in the top ten. However, they lose -0.2 for every Muslim faction in the top ten.

So feasibly the Pope’s authority score can be affected by up to +1 per turn or as low as -2.

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Defender of the Faith

Any Muslim faction in the top ten will be described as the ‘Defender of the Faith’. In addition to the standard authority bonus if any of the Holy Cities of Jerusalem, Mecca or Medina are held by a Christian faction they will lose 0.2 authority per turn.

Note this is separate to the bonus for actually holding one of the Muslim holy cities. Not least that benefit can accrue to any Muslim faction, including one that is not in the top 10 for piety production.

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Excommunication

Only Catholics can be excommunicated by the Papacy. Being Excommunicated is the only way a Catholic can be subject of a Crusade.

Triggers

You might be excommunicated by the Papacy if the Authority difference is no more than 50 in favour of the would-be excommunicated and if relationships are -25 or less. You are excommunicated immediately as soon as you declare war to the Papacy.

You will lose relationships with all Christian nations each turn, if you are Excommunicated (i.e. Orthodox factions will also shun an excommunicated Catholic).

Declaring war against an excommunicated nation will allow a Christian nation to avoid paying the Authority cost related to attacking someone of the same faith.

Removal

To remove an excommunication you need to improve your relations with the Papacy.

Relations will improve if:

• You are in the top 10 of Piety Producers.
• If you hold a Holy City.
• Normal diplomatic interactions (so gifts etc.)
• If you lease units to a Crusade and they win battles you will gain a relationship bonus with the Papacy.

If you can gain a relationship of 45 or higher then there is a chance the Pope will lift the excommunication. Note there are slightly different rules for the HRE.

Religious Antagonisms

The degree of tension between the major religious groups can vary from none, minor to major. This will significantly affect the diplomatic relations between individual factions.

Minor applies when relations between the two factions are already under 25 (wary) and they are of different faiths. It also applies if one is Muslim and the other is Crusading (against a different target) or one is Christian and the other is taking part in a Jihad. Major tensions arise if one is doing a Crusade or Jihad and the other is the target.

With Minor tensions, existing treaties will be observed but no others can be added. If tensions are worse then there is also a chance each turn that existing treaties will be broken.

Holy Wars: Crusades and Jihads

Crusades and Jihads are both forms of Holy Wars. Crusades can only occur after 1090 CE.

A Crusade cannot target the Holy See or a non-excommunicated Christian (practically this means that it can never target an Orthodox realm). The Jihad cannot target any type of Muslim but all other religions are valid targets.

To gain the Regional Decision needed to call a Crusade you must have both cordial (or better) relations with the Papacy and be in the top 20 of piety producing factions. For a Muslim faction, the declare Jihad RGD will only be available if they are both cordial (or better) with faction currently designated the Sword of Islam and in the top 20 piety producing factions (it will thus be potentially always available to the faction that is the Sword of Islam).

You will lose relationships with all nations of the same parent religion each turn, if you are under Crusade or Jihad (i.e. Orthodox will also shun a Catholic under Crusade).

To join the Crusade or the Jihad, you must talk to (using the diplomatic routines) either the Papacy or the most pious Muslim nation. You cannot join a Holy War if your relations with the Papacy or the leading Muslim faction are -50 or worse.

You can also join a Jihad by playing the appropriate RGD on the existing target, that will add you to the list of participants in that particular campaign.

You can quit the current Holy War before it is called off, but in this case, you will lose Authority.

Implications

Declaring war on a nation under Holy War means the attacker will not pay the usual Authority cost for attacking someone of the same faith.

In effect being the subject of a holy war is an open invitation for other powers to attack you – especially as they might gain authority for doing so.

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All nations that are part of a crusade or Jihad can enter the territory of each other. However, during the period of a Holy War those nations taking part cannot declare war on another participant on the same side.

If a Catholic realm declares war on a crusader they will be excommunicated and the cost in Authority for the attack will be increased.

In addition, taking part in a Holy War will produce less war weariness per turn than in a normal war.

Crusader/mujahidin nations will progressively declare war on all targets of the current holy war automatically (until all participants are at war against all targets).

During a Holy War there are major penalties to diplomacy between Christian and Muslim nations (even if neither faction is actively involved), Each turn, a Holy War can be called off with the probability increasing every turn by a variable amount. The more Holy Cities a side controls, the bigger the increase in ‘call off points’ per turn. The chance for a war to end can be found on the top tool bar and on the religion panel.

If Rome is not under the control of the Papacy, the ongoing Crusade can either be prolonged (if Rome is controlled by a nonChristian) or shortened (if controlled by a Christian). If the piety points generated by the single most productive Muslim nation are less than a third of the most pious Christian nation, then an ongoing Jihad is prolonged, as Islam is seen to be in danger.

The hostile take-over of a holy city can alter the chances to call off the relevant holy war.

Holy Cities

There are 3 Holy Cities defined for Christians and 3 for Muslims. For the Christians these are: Jerusalem, Constantinople, Rome, and, for the Muslims: Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina.

Note that if you are the target you may well see a large number of nations at war with you. Over time you may manage to make peace with some of these but they will tend to return to the war once the peace deal expires. In this respect note that while a nation may have attacked you as part of a Holy War, they will remain at war with you till a normal peace is arranged, even if the relevant Holy War has ended.

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The Papacy gains or loses Authority depending on who controls the Christian Holy Cities. Each one under control of a Christian nation (whether Catholic or Orthodox) gives 0.1 Authority per turn to the Papacy. Each one not under such control removes 0.2 Authority points per turn to the Papacy.

Relationships between Papacy and the Holy City owner (if Christian) will improve by 1 point (per turn).

Owning a Holy City can give direct authority benefits:

If one of a faith’s holy cities is held by the other faith then a -0.2 will be applied to the per-turn authority of all that faith’s factions that meet the definition of Religious Superiority.

Since Jerusalem is a holy city for both, by definition this malus will be always be applied to either of Islamic or Christian nations.

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If a Holy City changes hands forcefully between opposed faiths, then the victor will gain 6 authority points and better relationships with Papacy (if Catholic). Loss of such a city will cost that faction 6 authority points.

This conquest can also postpone or accelerate the end of the relevant holy war (i.e. a Catholic nation taking Jerusalem will increase the chance that an ongoing crusade is called off) as it will add 25 points to the current score used to determine if the crusade is called off.

Knightly Orders

There are five Knightly Orders that may appear in the game: Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights, Sword Brethren, Iberian Orders (this is used to amalgamate a variety of different types). They are not currently playable.

Each appears on map at a more or less historical date (sometime late, sometimes a bit in advance) and in their historical location, with some leeway. The regions must be Christian. Some will appear several times as they did historically, in particular the Teutonic Knights will appear in 3 places.

When they appear, they gain a building in a region not under their control, and a stack of units.

Once every few turns, they can spread from a region in which they have a building to a nearby Christian region, planting a new building (Commandery or Preceptory, depending on the exact Order). Alternatively, or in addition, existing buildings might get an upgrade.

It is important to understand that the Knightly Order buildings, even if technically owned by the region owner, are the property of the Knightly Order. As such, they can’t be disbanded and for the most part are a burden as they will siphon some gold income for their own usage!

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These factions are ‘Power Groups’ and can remain active even without any assets (regions or units). In this respect they can still play decisions and keep their treaties active for example. However, if they have no assets they will usually get one free unit in a friendly nation (with whom they have Passage Rights). Their own buildings will also generate units.

Practically speaking, nothing prevents Knightly Order gaining regions as ‘true landowners’ reflecting the territorial expansion of say the Teutonic Knights. They can become powerful “pseudonations” if left unchecked. They all have the raiding trait and will do so against Pagans and Muslims.

Their fundamental weakness is the Regional Decision “Challenge Knightly Order”. If the decision is played in a region you don’t own then usually the building will be removed. If played in a region you own and against a Knightly Order building, then the whole order might be disbanded!

However, this disbanding is not always assured. The Knightly Order might resist or even wage war against the player. A king with high authority is at a certain advantage (historically Philippe le Bel dismantled the Templars and sent them to burn at the stakes).

The Orders will pay their unit upkeep in money but not usually in terms of metal and manpower upkeep. Also they do not acquire new units in the usual way.

They can always enter any land of a Christian nation, as if they had a Passage Rights with them. The reverse is not true.

They can only declare war to a nation of the same religion if this nation is under a Holy War (i.e., Christian under Crusade, Muslim under Jihad. Not the other combinations). Note that through the alliance game, they can still end up at war with other nations of same religion. Exception: The RGD Challenge Knightly Order is played and the player fails his success roll.

They can never be made vassal, except if the liege is the Papacy. They never sign Royal Marriages.

They will automatically claim regions containing Holy Cities of their faith if held by another Knightly Order or by a nation of a different faith. On the other hand, they will automatically relinquish a claim on such regions if held by a nation of their religion (except if they are the owner).